LETTERS: Trillions spent, war on poverty lost

To the editor:

When Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law his “War on Poverty” in 1965, the poverty rate was in the mid-teens, and that’s where it is today.

We have spent more than $15 trillion fighting poverty since 1965, and we are currently spending billions more a year — an amount equal to about $25,000 per poor person. Yet our poverty rate today is at best unchanged from when we started 48 years ago. If there has been a war on poverty, it seems to me that poverty won.

Is it not obvious that Democratic policies are subsidizing and enabling a way of life? To put it bluntly, we are paying people to be unemployed, and we are paying them to remain poor with no chance for success.

It’s time to say enough. It’s time to stop subsidizing Democrat insanity.

MIKE NIEDERBERGER

LAS VEGAS

School shootings

To the editor:

The recent shooting at Arapahoe High School in Colorado (one injured, and the shooter kills himself) is indeed a tragedy. As expected, the media and gun control advocates are borderline giddy. Once again, the liberal left will flood the airwaves with cries to ban firearms.

Oh, wait a minute. The Arapahoe shooter did not use an assault weapon, a large-capacity clip or a handgun. He apparently used a shotgun, which was deemed OK to own and even shoot in the air by Vice President Joe Biden

Also, the shooter did not go on some sick rogue rampage, unlike Columbine, Sandy Hook or the Aurora theater tragedies. He sought out a particular teacher whom he had a previous conflict with and came to the school (you know, where teachers are known to hang out) to exact his grudge revenge. Would we even be listening to any of this if the shooter had tracked the teacher to downtown Chicago?

The media’s over-the-top coverage of events such as this, whether they are relevant to the gun control agenda or not, merely provides a forum for future confrontations and encourages those deviants who are seeking their 15 minutes of fame.

J.J. SCHRADER

HENDERSON

Unusually good liar

To the editor:

Former Democratic Sen. Bob Kerry once observed that President Bill Clinton was an “unusually good liar,” high praise indeed coming from a fellow politician. Not to be outdone by President Clinton, the 2013 “Lie of the Year” award has just been awarded by PolitiFact to one of President Barack Obama’s top entries: If you like your health care plan, you can keep it.

The “Lie of the Year” award must be prestigious among politicians, as many of them seem to vie for the honor. And President Obama might not have deserved the Nobel Peace Prize, but he clearly deserved this one. In fact, his many other entries probably took most of the other top positions.

For a big lie to be believed, it should be repeated often and with conviction. The president and his fellow politicians did just that, and to great effect. The mainstream media did even better by repeating the lie and incessantly quoting the politicians repeating the lie. The media simply were not interested in reporting the truth.

ARTHUR MCCRARY

HENDERSON

Blue Diamond speed limit

To the editor:

While we wait for another study, why can’t the speed limit on Blue Diamond Road just be lowered to 45, as it used to be? It was much safer then. There is far more traffic in that area than there used to be, and it only makes sense to slow down.

LAJAN WORTHAM

LAS VEGAS